Google Shelled $5 Billion To Publishers, Newspapers

Reacting to allegations from newspaper groups and publishers that it is not paying for their content, Search engine Google has stated that it has sent billions of dollars in revenues to publishers and claimed that its Google News platform actually helps in drawing huge amount of traffic to publisher websites.

While speaking at the FIPP World Magazine Congress in London, Google's UK director Mark Brittin has claimed that publishers are in fact doing quite well and have been able to earn near $5 billion by incorporating Google AdSense adverts on their websites.

Incidentally Brittin’s comments were in response to allegations made by newspaper groups like The Guardian Media Group and bosses like Rupert Murdoch who accused the search giant of using their content without actually offering any direct payment.

Brittin also espoused the need for finding a better way of monetizing content on the internet that would allow publishers to earn more and help people find content which they would like to read.

He went to add that “The challenge is the model of monetisation online and figuring out how to make that economically viable in the same way as your print products are. Those models are lagging consumer behaviour and all of us are trying to keep up with the consumer.”

Publishers could probably learn a lot from what Hulu.com did. NBC, Fox and many other networks and studios chose to create their own network rather than use Google's Youtube. Interestingly, their slogan is "An evil plot to destroy the world. Enjoy.", while Google's is "don't be evil". Maybe publishers should come together and build their own advertising networks/Google News.